Putnam sheriff seeks abuser's victims

John Pirro

Updated 12:27 am, Monday, February 27, 2012

CARMEL, N.Y. -- Using screen names such as "Sillyrabbit," "Damastrmynd" and "Riddlerboy," Jonathan L. DeLaura convinced the young boys he met on the Internet that he was a 17-year-old girl, Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith said.

But it was only after they exchanged sexually oriented messages, or sent him the sexually explicit photo he had requested, that DeLaura revealed his real identity, Smith said.

If the victims refused to meet him for sex or said they were going to police, he threatened to send the pictures to their friends and coaches, Smith said.

Earlier this month, Smith said investigators from the sheriff's department Bureau of Criminal Investigation turned the tables on DeLaura, a 37-year-old convicted sex offender from Jefferson Valley who also used the name "Jon Dulak."

On Feb. 3, two investigators met DeLaura in a Putnam Valley parking lot, where they had lured him on the pretext of meeting a boy for sex, Smith said. They charged him with three counts of third-degree criminal sexual acts and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Now, authorities are seeking help from the public because they believe there are other young boys who may have been DeLaura's victims, Smith said.

"Anyone having contact with Jonathan DeLaura, Jon Dulak, or any of his Internet screen names in a social networking chat site, or have been victimized by him, are encouraged to call investigators," Smith said.

DeLaura was listed as a sex offender after being convicted in 2009 for having oral sex with a 12-year-old boy he met while working as a tennis instructor in Riverdale, N.Y., a crime that netted him six years of probation.

But he was classified as a Level 1 sex offender, according to various published reports, meaning his name didn't appear on the state's sex offender registry.

As a condition of his probation, DeLaura was barred from working at health clubs or with children, but in 2010, he got a job coaching at the Putnam Fitness and Racquet Club and was arrested again by probation officials.

The outcome of that arrest couldn't be determined on Sunday.

DeLaura is currently free on bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

Authorities are asking anyone who came into contact with DeLaura to call the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 845-225-8060. Calls will remain confidential.